Hearing Services

As a complement to our vision services and as a convenience to our patients, our practice now provides a full range of hearing services for patients age 58 and older. Our Licensed Hearing Care Practitioner uses specialized diagnostic equipment to provide the best hearing solution for you.

We can clean your hearing aid and determine if your hearing aid needs to be re-programmed to account for any changes in your hearing ability. This can be thought of like updating your prescription for eyeglasses except that you don't have to buy a new hearing aid but instead just have the hearing aid fine tuned for your hearing loss. This is an example of the personal care and time we provide with our patients which distinguishes us from other larger chain hearing dispensaries to give you the best hearing possible for many years.

We are committed to quality and convenience, our goal is to enhance your day-to-day life experiences. Call today and schedule your first annual hearing workup.

Otoscopic Ear Inspection

Check for wax build-up or any unusual physical conditions using a medical grade otoscope with a high resolution camera.

Pure Tone Air Conduction Testing

Measures hearing sensitivity across the important sound frequencies for communication. This is performed in a comfortable custom designed hearing sound booth which provides an environment to obtain the best results which can then be easily reviewed on a large television screen.

Pure Tone Bone Conduction Test

This determines whether hearing difficulty is the result of an inner or middle ear function problem.

Speech Discrimination Test

This determines how well words and sounds are distinguished by the patient.

Binaural Live Speech Mapping

This process utilizes the latest software and digital equipment available for precise verification to achieve frequency gain requirements to meet target goals in programming hearing instruments. This makes challenging and difficult fittings a much more achievable task.

Tinnitus Testing & Treatment

Tinnitus is a noise such as ringing or buzzing in the ears. It is a common problem and can become quite a nuisance to people who suffer from it. Almost 36 million Americans suffer from tinnitus. It is often caused by an underlying condition and is most effectively treated by treating the underlying condition.

The symptom of tinnitus is only the sensation of noises like ringing, buzzing, clicking, pulsing or hissing. The patient is the only one that can actually hear these phantom noises. The noises can vary in volume from very soft to high or low pitched and may occur in one or both ears. While the noises do not exist externally, the doctor can hear the noises during an examination in some rare cases. But most cases of tinnitus are referred to as subjective, which only the patient can hear and are a result of problems in the outer, middle or inner ear.

Tinnitus is commonly caused by inner ear cell damage. Damage occurs when the tiny little hairs in the inner ear are bent or broken and “leak” random impulses to your brain, causing you to hear these sounds. Other causes of tinnitus include are-related hearing loss, exposure to loud noise and earwax blockage. Stress, depression and head or neck injuries can also lead to tinnitus. An audiogram can be a very helpful tool in diagnosing the frequency of the patients tinnitus.

Treatment of tinnitus depends on the cause of the problem. Some treatment options include earwax removal, hearing aids, white noise cancelling or masking devices. Prescription medications may also help reduce the symptoms of tinnitus. If you suffer from symptoms of tinnitus please mention this to our staff and Dr. Shettle to discuss your treatment options. Dr. Lee Shettle has a professional grade hearing booth and computer software which can detect the frequency of your tinnitus. Then using newly designed software, we can customize your hearing aids to specifically cancel out the frequency of your tinnitus giving you the ability to more fully enjoy life again.